Home / Recipes / Popular / Cakes & Cupcakes / Apple Cinnamon Cake

Apple Cinnamon Cake

This Apple Cinnamon Cake, is a moist delicious Fall Cake, made with apples and cinnamon. The perfect breakfast, dessert or snack cake. Your family is going to love it.

3 slices of apple cake on a white plate.


 

Over the years I have found that most Italians are not big on anything overly sweet. Even the classic Italian Tiramisu is not a really sweet dessert, creamy and delicious yes, sweet not too much. 

Most homemade Cakes or Breads are usually made with different fruits or even yogurt.   And if you want to add anything to a homemade cake then a dusting of powdered sugar is thing to do. Like most of my Italian cakes that I make they are from friends or family and of course this Apple Cinnamon Cake is no different!

Recipe Ingredients

  • Butter – softened
  • Sugar – granulated
  • Vanilla – vanilla extract
  • Eggs – large room temperature / 2 whole and 1 yolk
  • Vegetable oil – I use sunflower or cornflower oil
  • Milk – 2% or whole milk
  • Flour – cake/pastry flour or even all purpose
  • Cinnamon – perfect with apples
  • Baking powder
  • Apple – peeled and sliced
  • Lemon juice
  • Cinnamon – ground cinnamon
Ingredients for the cake.

How to Make Homemade Cake Flour

For every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb, it will also help the cake to rise.

Why use room temperature ingredients?

When at room temperature, eggs, butter, and other dairy ingredients form an emulsion which traps air. While baking in the oven, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy baked good. So be sure to remove the ingredients from the fridge 45-60 minutes before baking.

The cake on a white plate.

How to make an Apple Cake recipe

Toss together the sliced apples and lemon juice, set aside. In a small bowl mix together cinnamon and sugar, set aside.

Sliced apples in a bowl and cinnamon sugar mixed in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beat well to combine, then add the oil, vanilla and milk, beat until smooth.

Mixing the wet ingredients in a glass bowl.

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and 1 teaspoon cinnamon, add to batter and beat on medium until smooth.

The dry ingredients whisked and beaten into the wet ingredients.

Spoon batter into the prepared cake pan, top with sliced apples (do not press down), sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mix. Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool or serve warm. 

The batter and apples and cinnamon in the cake pan before baking.

Best apples for baking

I personally always reach for Royal Galla or Fuji, but you could also use Cortland, Empire, Crispin, Northern Spy, Newton Pippin, Rome Beauty, Granny smith, Winesap, Honeycrisp or even Braeburn.

How to serve the cake

I love to serve this cake on it’s own with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or how about a drizzle of caramel sauce or even a maple glaze?

How to store the Cinnamon Apple Cake

The cake is best stored in the refrigerator, wrap it well in plastic. It will keep 4-5 days in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before serving.

Apple cake on a white plate with a slice on a white plate.

How to freeze it

Freeze, the completely cooled cake. Wrap it well in plastic wrap and foil, then place it in a freezer safe bag or container. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Thaw the cake overnight still wrapped in the fridge. Unwrap the thawed cake and bring to room temperature before serving.

When you are looking for an Apple Cinnamon Cake recipe then I hope you give this cake a try and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

A slice of cake on a white plate.

More Apple Recipes to try

3 slices of apple cake on a white plate.

Apple Cinnamon Cake

Rosemary Molloy
This Apple Cinnamon Cake, is a moist delicious Fall Cake, made with apples and cinnamon. The perfect breakfast, dessert or snack cake. 
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Servings 10 servings
Calories 284 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

FOR THE TOPPING

  • 2 medium apples (peeled and thinly sliced)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

FOR THE CAKE

  • 3/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 1 large egg yolk (room temperature)
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk (room temperature) (210 grams total)
  • 2 1/2 cups cake/pastry or all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 pinch salt

For room temperature remove from the fridge approximately 1 hour before using.

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 350° (180° celsius). Grease and flour a 8 or 9 inch(20-22 cm) spring-form cake pan.

FOR THE TOPPING

  • In a medium bowl toss together sliced apples and lemon juice, set aside.
  • In a small bowl mix together cinnamon and sugar, set aside.

FOR THE CAKE

  • In a medium bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy, 2-3 minutes, then add the eggs and the yolk one at a time, mix well, add the oil, vanilla and the milk and beat until smooth.
  • In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, add to the batter and beat on medium until smooth approximately 1 minute.
  • Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan, top with sliced apples (do not press down), sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix. Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool or serve warm. Enjoy!

Notes

To make homemade cake/pastry flour, for every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. 
The cake is best stored in the refrigerator, wrap it well in plastic. It will keep 4-5 days in the fridge.
Freeze, the completely cooled cake. Wrap it well in plastic wrap and foil, then place it in a freezer safe bag or container. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Thaw the cake overnight still wrapped in the fridge. Unwrap the thawed cake and bring to room temperature before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 284kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 133mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 365IU | Vitamin C: 1.4mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1.2mg
Did You Make This Recipe?Please leave a comment below or pin it to your Pinterest account!

Updated from December 28, 2014

46 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Every recipe is fantastic. The ingredients And the directions are simple, but the results are outstanding. Thank you for being such a great teacher.

  2. 5 stars
    Have made thius cake many times and it is always perfect, I use the metric version… My family and friends enjoy it and always come back for seconds…
    Thank you for sharing….

    1. Hi Camelia, yes you can but you will have to reduce the baking powder by 1 teaspoon and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. 🙂

  3. This looks amazing and I am going to give it a try for this Thanksgiving week! Wanted to know if you recommend a particular type of apple for this?

  4. The cake taste delicious, however my cake part was dense and a little too dry. Can you make any suggestions. I would like to try it again because the flavor was very good.

    1. Hi Jean, maybe you should bake it a little less, sometimes over baking makes a cake dry. Hope that helps.

  5. 5 stars
    My professor at school asked us to all bring in a dish for a celebration we were having. I’ve never baked anything that didn’t come out of a box, but decided to give this recipe a try. I was pleasantly surprised. It turned out just like the picture. My professor ate half the cake and kept telling me how great it was. Thanks so much for the recipe!

    1. 5 stars
      Hi Chrissy, I am so happy you chose my recipe to make and you had fun making it, so glad your Professor enjoyed it. You can’t a better combination than cinnamon and apples, well maybe chocolate and peanut butter. 😉 Have a great weekend.

  6. This cake looks so yummy, I’d love a slice to go with my tea right now, I definitely need to try it, thx!

  7. This apple cake sounds so awesome, i do not have a spring form cake pan..What is another option for me…Thank you and Happy New Year !!

    1. Hi Mary, thanks, I think you could use a normal cake pan just make sure it is a higher sided cake pan. Happy New Year to you too!

    1. Hi April, you are so right about a great compromise, the apple topping tastes just like apple pie. Let me know how you like it. Happy New Year.

4.21 from 73 votes (63 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.